Live my life free of excuses: I don’t need to give a lame/made up reason to explain my choices and decisions.The only reason I do something is because I WANT TO.So now I politely say, “I’m sorry.Unfortunately I will not be able to _________ [fill in the blank with any of the following: attend, participate, do whatever is being asked of me].”I think people give a reason to help them feel less guilty about not meeting someone else’s expectations.I’m no longer playing the game of “What can I tell them to make it sound legit about why I can’t do X?”I’m being honest and forthright and it feels much better than lying to spare potentially hurt feelings.

My 3 Step Guide to Making and Keeping New Year’s Resolutions for 2017

Think about something that’s been bugging you. For example, last year I was annoyed with feeling like making excuses. It felt like a waste of mind power and energy.

Decide how you would like to feel/live instead.I did not want to feel like I need to make excuses when the truth was simple.I just didn’t want to do [fill in the blank].

Craft a resolution connecting the annoying feeling to how you want to live your life.“I don’t want to feel annoyed about wasting energy on making excuses; I resolve to live my life free of excuses!”

Live your resolution.Any time I felt the discomfort of declining something and the urge to create a bogus excuse I simply state, “Unfortunately, I am not able to do [fill in the blank].”And left it at that!No more cockamamie excuses for me!

My 3 New Year Resolutions for 2017

Be OK with declining invitations. It’s nice to be wanted, but I’m an introvert and I like to stay home with my hubby and kids (let’s be real, I love binge watching reality TV, too). It takes A LOT for me to be motivated to be extroverted unless it’s with people I love hanging out with.

Focus my mental energy and efforts only on things bringing me joy.This comes down to walking away from situations where I feel like my efforts are not reciprocated.If someone is not willing to put in the same time and energy as me, I will feel OK distancing myself from the situation.

Read more books with my twins.Super basic, but I find myself slacking when it comes to reading before bedtime.My older daughter is showered with story after story, but the Herculean effort it often takes to get my two little ones ready for bed leaves me too drained to consider reading a book.It’s not fair to them and it makes me feel crappy (I’m depriving my children of the written word and I know how important reading is for language development and general success in life!).I’m going to read more books with them.

Resolutions I Will NOT Make

I will not decide I am going to lose weight because it feels cliché and it does not help me live my best life anyway.Instead I’ll focus on feeling healthier which means I make better choices (this translates to eating fruit instead of cookies for dessert) ultimately lowering my cholesterol (Oh LDL, why are you so high?!).The bonus is this will give me more energy to run around with my kiddos and I actually do feel better when I eat better.

About the author

Michelle Dickstein is a Midwest transplant from the East Coast with her husband. Michelle has her Masters of Public Health and works full-time outside of the home. Michelle writes about her adventures in life as the mother of three adorable and curly-headed young daughters, two of which are identical twins. In addition she writes for Northeast Ohio Parent magazine, blogs (Emailing with My Girlfriends and Kveller) and has made appearances on CBS 19 and Fox 8 news as a lifestyle and parenting "expert" (whatever that means)! Michelle is co-authoring a book (and looking for a literary agent and publisher)!